


It's gonna be a cold, cold christmas (without you)

by InTooManyKpopFandoms



Category: NCT
Genre: College, JohnKun-centric, Kun Renjun and Chenle are brothers, M/M, Other ships will be added soon, Romance, but I won't reveal which ones, johnny and mark are brothers, more tags to be added soon, slight mentions of sex (not graphic), stupid bets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-05 06:39:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 24
Words: 14,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16805434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InTooManyKpopFandoms/pseuds/InTooManyKpopFandoms
Summary: Johnny makes a bet with his friend that he can get the quiet Qian Kun to sleep with him before Christmas. But that is easier said than done, especially when feelings start getting involved.





	1. December 1st

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone ^_^
> 
> So, this is my Christmas-calendar fanfiction. I plan to write a chapter everyday, from the 1st to the 24th of December (but if I miss a few days, please don't be too upset with me).
> 
> Just a warning, I haven't really written anything in a long time, so I'm a bit rusty. The first couple of chapters may be pretty poorly written, but I hope it'll get better soon. 
> 
> Some of the chapters, like this one, will be quite short, but I promise that there will be some slightly longer chapters later on. 
> 
> This is the 3rd year, where I have done one of these Christmas fan fictions (if you wish to check out the other two ones, they're on Asianfanfics, where my username is angel-princess) 
> 
> Lastly, this is a college-au. I've never attended college, so my portrayal of it may be a bit off, but please just pretend like I'm right. 
> 
> Please enjoy reading ^_^

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments, they light up my world in these dark months ^_^

Johnny dropped down on the chair at the usual table in the cafeteria. His brain felt like mashed potatoes after another boring class, where the teacher tried to explain...something. Johnny had tuned the teacher out about 20 minutes into the class in order to keep his sanity. 

“Well, someone looks a bit tired, huh?” Yuta, one of Johnny’s good friends, commented, looking at him with a strange mixture of amusement and pity. 

“Good news. Today is December 1st. Only 24 days till Christmas.” Doyoung said, also practically collapsing onto a chair. “And better yet, the Christmas vacation.”.

They started eating their lunch. Some of their other friends joined them after a while. The table was filled with Doyoung and Yuta bickering (or “having a civil conversation”, as they referred to it). In the meantime, Taeil, the oldest of the group, was looking somewhere entirely different. 

“Have you guys noticed that Dong Sicheng looks especially beautiful today?” He said with a dreamy voice. A loud sigh erupted from the entire table. 

“Seriously, hyung? You've been saying that everyday for the past 2 years. And you have still not worked up the courage to even speak to him.” Jaehyun said. “Someday, you're gonna break your back while carrying around that huge crush of yours.” he younger teased. 

Dong Sicheng was in the year under Taeil, and to put it nicely, he was beautiful. He had a sort of princely and ethereal aura around him, making him seem like a sort of fairytale creature that didn't belong to this world. 

“Who's that guy next to him? The one with the brown hair?” Johnny asked. His attention had been caught by the guy next to Sicheng. He seemed slightly shorter, and had a rounder, slightly chubbier face. 

“His name is Qian Kun. He's in the same year as me, but I haven't ever talked to him.” Doyoung said. 

“Aww, our JohnJohn thinks he's cute?” Yuta teased, making the whole table break into laughter. Johnny just rolled his eyes. He didn't think this "Qian Kun" was cute. 

“Just give it up, ‘Johnjohn’, we all know the only thing you've kissed this past 2 years has been your pillow.” Doyoung teased, taking the annoying nickname from Yuta.

And it was kinda true. Johnny hadn't dated anyone in a while. It wasn't that he couldn't score someone, he just hadn't found anyone who really caught his attention. 

But Johnny knew he was a catch. And he sensed a challenge.

“Let's make a bet, Doyoung. If I can get Qian Kun to sleep with me before December 24th, you owe me 50 dollars, deal?” Johnny said, presenting his hand for Doyoung, knowing that Doyoung couldn't say no to a bet. Doyoung broke into a grin and shook his outstretched hand. 

“Deal.” Doyoung said.

“Well, in that case, good luck, Prince Charming.” Doyoung laughed. This whole conversation may have been seen as strange by onlookers, but for them, it was just good-natured banter, and everyone understood that as soon as they stood up from the table, everything that had been said didn't matter anymore.

So of course, Johnny assumed that his and Doyoung’s bet had mostly been a joke. But he would soon learn why assuming things was a bad idea. Assume things and it will “make an ass out of you and me”.


	2. December 2nd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny decides to enlist some help for his mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is also quite short, but the chapters will get longer as more drama get introduced.  
> Please leave kudos and comments, they light up my world in these dark months ^_^

Johnny didn't have many classes the next day, so he got off around 2 pm. On his way out of the school, he suddenly felt an arm slinging itself around his shoulder, and his peripheral vision caught a mop of dark brown hair. 

“So, have you begun to plan out your conquest yet?” Doyoung asked, his voice slightly teasing, but his eyes revealing actual interest. 

“Conquest?” Johnny asked, having mostly forgotten their conversation from yesterday. 

“Yeah. How are you going to woo Qian Kun? Are you gonna be romantic and ask him on a date? Or are you just gonna walk up to him and say ‘Hey, how about we go home to my place, I can show you a good time’?” Doyoung asked, saying the last part in an exaggeratedly deep impersonation of Johnny. 

“Wait, what? I was just joking when we made that bet. You were being serious?” Johnny asked, staring at his friend, dumbfoundedly. 

“I wasn't joking. And if you wish to get 50 dollars, you'd better get going soon.” Doyoung said. “I've gotta go to class. See you tomorrow.” The younger said as he ran off, leaving Johnny still standing in a state of complete and utter confusion. 

He had 23 days to get a guy, with whom he has never talked to before, to sleep with him. 

He was doomed. 

In that moment, his legs started carrying him home even quicker. His house wasn't that far from school, it took him maybe 20 minutes to walk. 

When he walked through the door, he heard shouting from upstairs. He walked towards the sounds, slowly opening the door to his younger brothers room. 

3 younger boys were sitting in there, playing video games and shouting at each other. 

“I'm home, Mark.” Johnny said, making his brother turn his head to look at him. “Hi Jaeno.” He said, directed at the 2 other boys, Jeno and Jaemin, some of Marks friends. 

“Johnny hyung, you are aware that we are 2 people, right?” Jaemin asked.

“You 2 are practically attached by the hip. You might as well be 1 person.” Johnny said, laughing at the jokingly offensive look on Jaemin’s face. Johnny was about to leave, when he suddenly got an idea. He had texted Yuta earlier, asking him if he knew anything about Qian Kun’s group of friends. Yuta, who for some reason seemed to know anything there is to know about everyone, took pity on him and informed him of who was who in the group. Including the fact that Kun's younger brother was the same age as Jaeno. He might be able to use that as an advantage. 

“Hey Jaeno, can you help me with something?” Johnny asked. 

“Depends. Will you stop calling us ‘Jaeno’, and treat us like 2 people if we help you?” Jeno asked, not taking his eyes of the video game, which he seemed very competitive about. Johnny asked the 2 of them to come out into the hallway with him, leaving a very confused Mark behind in the room. 

“Do you know a boy named Renjun?” Johnny asked. 

“He's in my class, I think. Why?” Jaemin said. 

And so Johnny started telling the 3 boys about his bet, and what he now had to do in order to not lose 50 dollars. 

“Sooooo, you want us to hit on a guy from our class, and then get information about his brother from him?” Jeno said, and Johnny realized how crazy he sounded. 

“It kinda sounds like we'd be secret agents or spies, making people fall in love with us to get information.” Jaemin muttered, but no one really noticed. 

“I'll give each of you 10 dollars for it. Please. Just for a few weeks.” Johnny asked. 

“And you want us both to flirt with him, not just one of us?” 

“Yes, both of you. Tell him you're interested in polyamory or something.” Johnny said. Jeno looked at Jaemin to get his reaction. 

“We'd get 10 dollars each, just for flirting with a guy. I'm in if you are.” Jaemin said, giving Jeno a mischievous smile. Jeno looked at Johnny again. 

“We're in.” He said.

Johnny felt kinda sorry for this Renjun-kid, but he was a broke college student, he needed 50 dollars, and Doyoung came from a well-off family, he could spare 50 dollars. 

And Johnny hoped that no hearts would be broken during this mission. But considering the nature of his mission, that didn't seem probable.


	3. December 3rd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Johnny and Jeno try striking up a conversation with their "targets", in their own unique ways.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments, they light up my world in these dark months ^_^

The next day, Johnny decided to begin his mission. He had planned it out completely. Or not completely, but he had a vague idea of what he was supposed to do in order to create a sort of connection with his target. 

So at 10:45, when a large portion of the students hurried to get from one class to the next, Johnny found himself in the middle of the corridor. He hoped that Kun would be coming this way, and if he did, Johnny would ‘accidentally’ walk into him, knock him down, and then help him up, while offering to buy him coffee or something. It seemed like a fool-proof plan, right. Well, that's not quite how it turned out. 

It was difficult to see anything among all of the students walking around, scurrying along to get to their next lesson on time, but Johnny did manage to find Kun in the big mess. And that's when he put his plan into action. 

Johnny pretended to be on his phone, while walking down the hall. Kun seemed to be carrying a large stack of books, while also talking to someone, whom Johnny recognized from the table the other day...Junghoon? Junwoo? Something along those lines. 

Johnny was successful in ramming straight into Kun, sending both of them to the floor, along with all of Kun's books. What hadn't been part of the plan, was when Johnny accidentally hit his nose quite hard. 

“Oh my god, are you okay?” Someone asked, the voice very soft and gentle. Johnny looked up to see worried eyes looking at him. And it suddenly occurred to him that he had never actually heard Kun speak before.

“Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry, I didn't look where I was going. Are you hurt?” Johnny asked, playing the surprised act very well. 

“No, no, I'm fine. Someone went to get you something for your nose, so just stay here.” Kun said, obviously worried about Johnny’s nose. Johnny, curious about what he meant about his nose, lifted his hand and touched the middle of his face. As he drew his hand back, his fingers were smeared with blood. Not a lot, but enough that it could be kinda shocking. 

Someone quickly came running back with a tissue for Johnny, and as soon as he had the bleeding somewhat under control, he went on with the next step of his plan, because after getting a nosebleed, after deliberately going into someone, Johnny didn't think it could get any weirder. 

“I'm very sorry for running into you, I seriously just lost sense of where I was. Can I do something to make up for it? Buy you coffee or something?” Johnny said, turning his charm offense up to 100.

“Are you...asking for a date...with...me?” Kun asked, clearly taken slightly aback by the sudden change in the other guy’s behavior. And why wouldn't he be? Johnny was a stranger to him. 

“If you want it to be a date, that can be arranged.” Johnny said, winking cheekily. Kun's friend, Jungwoo? Jungjun? whatever, starting snickering. 

“Perhaps some other day. But thank you for the offer. I'm sorry, but I have to get to class now. Sorry again for running into you.” Kun said as he got up and followed his friend further down the corridor. 

Meanwhile, in a first-year class, Jeno had deliberately seated himself differently than he used to. Instead of sitting in the back of the class, and whispering with Jaemin for the entire class, often ignoring the teacher, Jeno seated himself up front. Right next to Huang Renjun. 

As the class began, they had to do a small written test, and as the teacher started handing out the tests, Jeno leaned over slightly. 

“Excuse me, can I borrow a pencil? I left my own at home.” Jeno said, flashing his classmate one of his winning smiles. 

“Y-yeah, sure. Here you go.” Renjun said, as he looked through his pencil case and gave one of his pencils to Jeno. 

“Thanks. I'm Jeno by the way, Lee Jeno.” He said. 

“It's nice to meet you, Jeno. I'm Renjun, Huang Renjun.” Renjun said. 

And so, phase 1 of both Johnny’s and Jaeno’s missions were completed. 

Mission accomplished: Initiate conversation with target.   
Next mission: Get closer to said target.


	4. December 4th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renjun introduces Jeno to his group of friends

The next day, Jeno approached Renjun after class. 

“Hey Renjun?” Jeno called, making the other boy turn his head towards him. 

“Yeah?” 

“I forgot to take notes to the lesson today. Can I borrow yours? Just for a moment?” Jeno asked, giving his best puppy eyes. Renjun seemed to think for a moment, before opening his bag and taking out a large notebook and handing it to Jeno. Jeno hadn't really lied, he actually didn't take any notes, so he wasn't totally deceiving Renjun here. Just the fact that the reason that he approached Renjun was a lie. 

“Thanks. Do you have anyone to sit with at lunch? Do you wanna sit with me and my friends?” Jeno asked. 

“It's really nice of you, but I'm probably going to be sitting with my own friends. Maybe another day?” Renjun said. 

“Oh, okay. Sure, some other day.” Jeno said. 

“Or you could sit with me and my friends? I'm sure they'll like you.” Renjun said. Jeno decided that he would probably enjoy sitting with Renjun’s friends. Renjun was very friendly, so his friends probably were too. Right? 

And that's how Jeno ended up sitting at a completely different table than usual. 

“Hey guys, this is Jeno, he's a new friend.” Renjun introduced him when they got to the table. 

There were 8 other people sitting there, beside Jeno himself and Renjun. Renjun took turns introducing everyone of them. There were Yukhei (or Lucas, as they sometimes called him), who was incredibly tall, as well as incredibly handsome. He looked like he had just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Then there was Jungwoo, who, while sitting next to Yukhei, seemed kinda short, but probably wasn't that short in reality. If Yukhei looked hot, Jungwoo was the cute one. Renjun's also informed Jeno that the 2 of them were in a relationship, and that Jungwoo tended to get slightly “territorial” if someone stares too long at Yukhei. 

“It's kinda cute.” Renjun added. 

Jeno had always been told that he was handsome, heck Jaemin told him basically every day how handsome he was. So when Renjun introduced Taeyong, Jeno got a bit of a shock. For a moment, he had to check that the man in front of him was actually real. He was almost unbelievably handsome, almost more so than Yukhei was. 

“This is Taeyong. He's basically our mother when we're at school, always nagging at us to eat more and study harder.” Renjun said, causing Taeyong to visibly redden. 

“Don't say that when introducing me to new people, Junnie.” Taeyong said, or rather whispered aggressively. 

Then there was Chenle and Jisung, the 2 youngest of the group. Chenle, who also happened to be Renjun's younger brother, apparently had a very high-pitched (and frequent) laughter, and seemed to be generally loud. Jisung didn't seem quiet, but compared to Chenle, he didn't seem as...crazy? 

“Are they dating?” Jeno whispered to Renjun, referring to how the 2 “kids” we're sitting way closer together than the other occupants of the table, even including Jungwoo and Yukhei. 

“I don't think so. But I could be wrong. Nobody really knows.” Renjun said, shrugging his shoulders. 

Then there was Sicheng. Jeno knew he recognized the name, and soon realized that this was the guy that Taeil had been gushing about so often. And Jeno didn't really fault him for it. Sicheng was quite beautiful. He had a very boyish face, but he also had a special aura around him, one that Jeno couldn't quite explain. 

Next to Sicheng was Ten (he had a real name, but it was too hard to pronounce, so he had just asked them to call him Ten). He was more of the shorter side than most of Renjun's other friends. Renjun told him that Ten was from Thailand, but moved to Korea a long time ago. 

And then there was Kun, the one who, unknowingly, had gotten Jeno into all of this. Kun was Renjun's older brother (which Johnny had already told him the other day). He seemed very nice, and Renjun told him that Taeyong was basically their mom at school, and Kun was basically his and Chenle’s mother at home. 

As Jeno finished eating, he looked over shortly towards his normal table. Johnny was looking at him, giving him a slightly hidden thumbs-up. And suddenly, Jeno started getting a bad feeling in his stomach. These people were so nice to him.

But was he being nice to them? Really?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments ^_^


	5. December 5th

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter is mostly a filler chapter. It's not that well-written, and also kinda short, since I'm extremely tired today, and kinda just want to sleep. But I said that I would try to update every day, and so I will. 
> 
> Also, I kinda realized that Johnny is slightly creepy in this story, which wasn't really my intent, so I'm trying to make him less creepy, and more sweet. 
> 
> Also, have you guys heard Onew's (from SHINee) solo debut? If you haven't heard it yet, it's called "Blue", and it's beautiful. Please go check it out.

The next day, Jeno sat with his own friends once again. Very thing seemed like it was getting back to normal. Well, besides the fact that Johnny kept looking over to Kun's table. 

“Hyung, you're staring. Again.” Donghyuck said, rolling his eyes. 

“I'm gonna ask him to drink coffee with me tomorrow, and then I will try to charm him.” Johnny said, half to himself, half to his friends. 

“You're getting kinda obsessed with this whole thing, Johnny.” Taeil said. “You're starting to sound really creepy, and this whole thing is just kinda weird.” 

“I agree. Can't you just pay Doyoung the money and then you can stop this whole thing?” Mark said.

“I'm sorry if I have seemed a bit strange. I will try to tone it down a bit.” Johnny said, smiling sheepishly at his brother. “But I'm gonna keep going. I want those money.” Mark let out a sign of frustration. 

At another table, Kun was busy eating his food, like he usually did. What could he say, he liked food. 

“I think someone's staring at us.” Lucas said. Kun looked up and turned in the direction that he was looking. He briefly caught the gaze of that guy who knocked him over the other day.

“That's the guy who bumped into Kun hyung the other day.” Jungwoo said. 

“Didn't you say he offered to take you out?” Taeyong asked, drawing a large amount of “oooooooooooooh”s from the other occupants of their table, much to Kun's embarrassment. 

“Are you gonna go out with him? You have to.” Ten said. “You're home too much lately.”

“Nah, I'm good. I don't even know his name, why should I go on a date with someone I don't know?” Kun said, picking at his food again. 

“Hello. Blind dating? You should go on a date with him to learn his name. If you're really so worried about Renjun and Chenle, I'll take care of them.” Ten said, earning himself a “We’re old enough to take care of ourselves for a couple of hours” from Chenle and Renjun. 

“You sure that's a good idea, Tennie? Remember what happened last time you tried taking care of Chenle and Jisung?” Taeyong asked, making them all look back at the time Ten had tried babysitting “The babies”, and he had ended up almost burning down the house. 

“I'm not going on a date. I'm not interested.” Kun said, the tone of his voice making it known that there was no discussion to be had on the subject.

Did he really mean that he wasn't interested in dating? Yes. Would that be about to change very soon? Who knows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments, please ^_^


	6. December 6th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His friends finally get Kun to agree to go on the date, and Johnny and Kun "talk" to each other for the second time.

Renjun sat down at the table the next day. 

“So, I have some exciting news.” He announced, quite loudly, making all the focus at the table fall on him. 

“So I had a talk with Jeno today. Turns out, his good friend is the guy who ran into Kun hyung the other day. And Jeno said that the proposal for coffee still stands.” Jeno said. 

“Junnie, it's very sweet of you, but I'm just not interested.” Kun said. 

“Why not? And bonus info, his name is Johnny. Now you can't use “not knowing his name” as an excuse.” Renjun said. 

“Just do it, Kun. It's one date, and it might actually make Renjun, and basically everyone else, stop talking about this thing.” Jungwoo said, from where he was, for some reason, comfortably seated on Yukhei’s lap, despite the fact that they were in school, and that they would probably be reprimanded if a teacher saw them. The school had rules regarding PDA, and YukWoo were currently overstepping them (as if they ever cared about those rules).

“Okay, fine. One date. But then I don't want to hear another word, from anyone about my love life, okay?” Kun said. 

“Great. I'll let Jeno know later.” Renjun said. 

It was one date, Kun thought, what damage can one date possibly do?

“Renjun just told me that Kun has accepted your offer for coffee.” Jeno told Johnny, as they, and Jaemin, walked to class. Their classrooms were just across the corridor from one another. 

“Great, did he say when he'd be available?” Johnny asked. 

“No. But he gave you Kun's phone number, so you can contact him yourself, without using me and Renjun as human telephones.” Jeno said, handing Johnny a piece of paper with a bunch of numbers scribbled on it. 

“You've got to introduce me to Renjun at some point. He sounds quite nice.” Jaemin said. 

“He is. I got in touch with him due to the bet, but he's really sweet, and I think we're actually becoming friends. I'm sure you'd like him too” Jeno said. 

In the meantime, Johnny had saved the number in his phone. 

Later that evening, Johnny finally got a chance to text Kun.

(Text conversation)

Johnny: Hey

Kun: Hi. Who is this?

Johnny: Oh sorry, I'm Johnny. Remember? The guy who walked into you?  
And offered to take you out for coffee?

Kun: Oh, right.   
So, about the coffee date  
when would u be available?

Johnny: How about the day after tomorrow?  
I know a very nice little coffee shop  
I'll send you the address later

Kun: Yeah, that sounds nice. 

Johnny: How does 3:30 sound to you?

Kun: That sounds fine

Johnny: Okay, I'll see you

Kun: Yeah, I'll see you there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone reading this (which probably isn't that many)  
> So, the next couple of days might be a bit strange in terms of this story (or maybe everything will continue like it has until now, I honestly don't know). I have a major paper coming up (15 pages of pure text in 12 days. I'm getting the whole 2 weeks off to do it), so I don't really know how I'm gonna structure my time yet. But I'll try to still get the daily chapters out, I promise. Just be aware that I may accidentally skip a day, if everything gets too overwhelming. 
> 
> Please leave kudos or comments ^_^


	7. December 7th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jaemin meets Renjun for the first time, and gets a bit upset at Jeno

Johnny felt happy the next day. He had gotten a date with Kun, the first step in his plan. 

“So, I have good news.” Johnny said as he sat down at their table as usual. 

“Let's hear it then?” Taeil said. 

“I have gotten a date with Kun. Tomorrow.” Johnny said, sending a smug smile towards Doyoung. 

“You still have a long way to go. And you've wasted a week already on just asking him out.” Doyoung retaliated. 

“It's a beginning.” Johnny argued. 

“So, what's your next step?” Jaehyun asked. 

“Get him to fall in love with me, of course.” Johnny said, acting like it was the easiest thing in the world. 

Jaemin walked into the classroom and sat down next to Jeno in the back of the room. He had really missed Jeno these past few days, when he had placed himself at the front with Renjun. Or at least missed him as much as you can miss someone you literally see every day.

But now everything was back to normal. The 2 of them were sitting in the back of the room, talking while waiting for the lesson to start. Suddenly, Renjun walked into the room, and looked around. He caught a glimpse of Jeno, and proceeded to sit on the opposite side of him from Jaemin. 

“Oh, RenJun, hi.” Jeno said. 

“Hi. Who's this?” Renjun said, nodding towards Jaemin, it wasn't a hostile action, rather curious. 

“This is Jaemin, one of my best friends.” Jeno said. 

Ouch, that hurt, Jaemin though. ‘One of my best friends’? They had literally known each other for longer than anyone else in their group of friends (except Mark and Johnny, obviously), they told each other everything. People sometimes didn't even bother to call both their names, knowing that if Jeno went somewhere, Jaemin would follow, and the opposite. 

‘Calm down, Jaemin’. He thought. ‘He doesn't mean anything by it, he's just trying not to make Renjun feel left out’c

So Jaemin kept a neutral face and shook Renjun's hand. 

“Nice to meet you, Renjun. I've heard a lot about you from Jeno.” Jaemin said. 

“Nice to meet you too, Jaemin.” Renjun said. 

In that moment, the teacher came in, and the lesson started. Jaemin didn't even notice the familiar pair of eyes glancing over him once in a while. 

After class, Jaemin and Jeno walked towards their lockers together. 

“I'm sorry.” Jeno said. Jaemin turned his head towards him curiously. 

“For what?” 

“I saw your expression when I said that you were "just" one of my best friends. I didn't mean it like that, I swear.” Jeno said. 

“No, no, I understand. It's okay.” Jaemin said, turning towards Jeno and embracing him. Hugging each other was nothing out of the ordinary for the 2. They hugged each other almost everyday.

And almost everyday, it made Jaemin feel almost indescribably happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you can make your own interpretations of the ending, but the idea is that Jaemin "might" have a "small" crush on Jeno, and gets slightly insecure because of what Jeno said to Renjun.


	8. December 8th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kun and Johnny finally go on a date.

Johnny was getting ready for his date with Kun. He wasn't dressed that fancily, since it was just a date. He was wearing jeans and a nice shirt. He had previously texted the addresses the cafe to Kun. 

As he walked into said cafe, he went to the counter to place his order, before taking a seat at a table by the window. 

At 3:26, 4 minutes before the agreed time, Kun walked through the doors to the cafe. He looked around, gaze finding Johnny, before smiling at him and walking to the counter to order. After ordering, he approached Johnny at the table. 

“Hi.” He said, obviously trying to break the ice a bit. 

“Hello. Thanks for taking up my offer for the coffee.” Johnny said, as Kun sat down on the chair opposite from him. 

“I'll admit, I was a bit hesitant, since we have barely ever talked before. But thanks for the offer anyway.” Kun said. 

“Then let's get to know each other a bit. Tell me 5 things about yourself, then I'll do the same.” Johnny suggested, thinking of it as a good way for him to get to know Kun a bit more. 

“Okay. Well, number 1, I'm a Capricorn, born on January 1st. Number 2, my family is from China, but we moved to Korea about 7 years ago. Number 3, My family consists of my dad, my mom, and my 2 younger brothers, Renjun and Chenle. Number 4, I play the piano, and I really like singing too. I just liked music in general. And number 5, my favorite color is blue.” Kun said. There were a couple of surprises, although Johnny already knew about Renjun and Chenle, and had figured that Kun originated from China (Qian wasn't really a Korean name). But most of the other facts were news to him. 

“Okay, my turn. Number one, I was born and raised in America, but moved to Korea when I was 9. Number 2, I was born in 1995, on February 9th, making me an Aquarius. 3, I have a younger brother, named Mark. 4, I am very interested in photography, and I love watching movies. And 5, I am 184 centimeters tall, and people often tease me for being very tall.” Johnny finished. 

“So we're both foreigners in Korea, and we both have younger siblings.” Kun stated. 

“Yes. Although I do have Korean ancestry.” Johnny said. 

They continued like that for a while, exchanging random facts about themselves, getting to know each other better and better. And Johnny actually found it kinda enjoyable. Kun wasn't such a bad person, he was actually quite friendly. Maybe this whole bet was way easier than Doyoung had made it out to be. 

Kun had been sceptical about this whole date-thing, only really going to satisfy his friends’ eternal nagging at his single-ness. But it actually turned out pretty alright. Kun was enjoying himself. He usually wasn't the most outgoing person, and generally preferred animals to humans, but Johnny was a good talker. He always made the conversation more interesting. 

So when the 2 hours were up, and Kun announced that he had to go home to cook dinner (his parents were both working late tonight, and he would not let Chenle and Renjun be in the kitchen alone, especially not Chenle), Kun found himself being a bit sad that he had to leave. 

“If you want to, we could, you know, meet up again another day. Today has been really nice.” Johnny said. And Kun felt a nice feeling spreading in his body, kind of like when you've just had a nice, warm cup of coffee. 

“That would be nice. “ Kun said as he packed his stuff and stood up from the table. 

He saw this date as a success. And hopefully there would be another one. It didn't have to be a date, just a friendly meet-up. Johnny was a nice person to converse with, and Kun would like to experience a bit more of that.


	9. December 9th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny and Kun talk to their friends about their date.

The next day, Johnny joined the table where his friends were sitting. 

“Hey Johnny, what's up? How was your date?” Jaehyun asked. 

“It's was good. Kun is actually a really sweet guy. I think we're gonna go on another date.” Johnny said. 

“That sounds nice. But…” Mark started. Johnny looked at him. 

“But?”

“Are you sure you're still only doing this for the bet? Cause you seem to actually enjoy this. And you shouldn't enjoy toying with another person’s feelings.” Mark said. Johnny wanted to answer him. 

But he had no idea what to answer.

Kun sat down at the usual table, where his friends were already sitting. The moment Ten looked at him, Kun knew he was in serious trouble. 

“Oooooh, look who we have here.” Ten said teasingly. Kun let out a sigh. He loved Ten, don't get him wrong, they had been friends for a long time. But Ten just knew what buttons to press to make Kun just frustrated enough to show it, but not angry enough to actually do something about it. 

“How did your date go yesterday? Do I need to go beat up that Johnny guy?” Yukhei asked, clearly joking. Yukhei was like the soul of a puppy trapped in a tall, handsome human. 

“No, no, don't beat anyone up, Yukhei. It was actually quite nice. Johnny seems like a very nice person.” Kun said, completely honestly. 

“Is that an oncoming crush talking? Is there gonna be a second date?” Ten asked. 

“There is no crush, he's just a very nice person. And yes, we're possibly meeting up again. But it's not a date, just a meet-up between 2 possible friends.” Kun defended.

“Okay, sure. Just a meet-up.” Ten said, wriggling his eyebrows. At the same time, Chenle leaned over towards Jisung. 

“How much do you want to bet that today is the day where Kun hyung finally snaps at Tennie hyung?” Chenle asked. They both started giggling. 

And Kun was left to wonder 2 things.  
1: Why did he have these friends? Don't get him wrong, he loved them. But they could be a mouthful sometimes. Or rather, most of the time.   
2: Was Johnny as happy about their ‘date’ as he was?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments, thank you ^_^


	10. December 10th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kun asks Johnny out on a second "date", and Johnny happily accepts.

The next morning, when Johnny woke up, he looked at his phone to see a text message. 

Kun: Hey

Johnny: Hi, how are you doing?

Kun: I'm fine, thank you.   
I was wondering if you want to meet up again soon? I really enjoyed it the other day. 

Johnny: Yeah, that would be great. Are you free tomorrow? At 4? 

Kun: Yeah, that sounds perfect.   
Just the same place as the other day?

Johnny: Yes, that's fine. See you then :D

Kun: See you ^_^

Johnny closed his phone again. Wow, he didn't even have to do anything for another date. Not that he minded, though. 

When Johnny arrived at school, he met up with Yuta outside the gates so they could go to class together. On the way, Johnny told him about Kun's text in the morning. 

“So you have another date?” Yuta asked, although Johnny couldn't quite tell exactly how interested he was. 

“Yeah. And he asked for it. That probably means he likes me, right?” Johnny asked, only afterwards realizing how much he sounded like a crushing 14-year old girl. 

“Or that he just likes spending time with you. Maybe he hasn't picked up on your signals yet?” Yuta said. 

“Yeah, it's probably that.” Johnny said, unsure if he even sent Kun any signals that he was interested. 

“Have you guys heard? Kun has another date with that Johnny-guy.” Lucas said, looking like he wanted to run around and tell the whole school, only being kept in place by Jungwoo sitting on his lap. 

“Wow, really? I thought it was “just one date”. When did he ask you?” Taeyong asked, teasing Kun a bit. 

“That's the best part. Kun was the one who asked.” Ten said, apparently being up to date on his friends’ love lives, as usual. Kun sometimes wondered if Ten had private detectives following every one of them, to keep eyes on their love lives. 

“Really? Kun asked someone out? Has the world turned upside down yet?” Sicheng asked, making the rest of the table burst into giggles. Kun was just sitting in between Taeyong and Renjun, smiling ever so slightly, letting the others spill the news. He knew the teasing would be much easier if he didn't say anything to defend himself. 

He was used to the teasing, so it didn't hurt him. He knew they cared about him a lot, and that they wouldn't tease him if they didn't think he could handle it. That was just their group dynamic. And he wasn't the only ‘victim’ of the teasings. Sometimes, they'd go after Taeyong, parodying his nagging and motherly habits. Or after Sicheng for his (sometimes questionable) innocent personality. 

It was how their little group of friends showed their affection. And Kun wouldn't want it any other way.


	11. December 11th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kun and Johnny go on the second not-a-date. And Johnny...starts feeling...things?

The next day, Kun arrived first at the cafe. He placed his order at the counter, and sat down at the same table as the other day. He was really happy about seeing Johnny again. He had a good time the other day, and he hoped to repeat it today. 

But the time went by. 4:05...4:12...4:19. And Johnny still didn't show up. 

‘He's probably just running a bit late.’ Kun thought. 

4:26

‘Am I being stood up?’ Kun wondered. ‘I'll give him to 4:35, then I'll leave.’

And then, at 4:33, Johnny finally entered the cafe. Kun had almost finished his coffee already, and was actually already preparing to leave. 

“I am so so sorry.” Johnny said, before rambling on about how one of his teachers asked him to stay late to talk about an assignment, and he just didn't get time to text Kun. 

“It's fine, it's fine.” Kun said, causing Johnny to visibly relax. 

“I promise, it will not happen again.” Johnny said. 

Again? There was going to be another ‘again’?

Johnny was very grateful that Kun had waited for him. He had almost been afraid that Kun had left the cafe, wondering why Johnny hadn't shown up. But thankfully he was still there. 

And thankfully, he didn't even seem that angry at Johnny. They just continued talking about their day, their life, anything really. They just...clicked, somehow. It's difficult to explain, but Johnny just felt like Kun was a really good listener, and he didn't seem to mind that Johnny did around 75% of the talking. 

“Have you noticed, there's only around 2 weeks left until Christmas?” Kun said. 

“Yeah...that's cool, right?” Johnny said. He did indeed look forward to the vacation from school, and spending time with his family and friends and stuff. But by this rate, he would indeed miss the deadline for his bet with Doyoung. 

“Have you bought all of your presents yet?” Kun asked. 

“Yes, I've been prepared for a while. How about you? You ready for Christmas?” 

“Almost. I need to get Renjun something, I still don't really know what to get him, but besides that, I'm ready.” Kun said. 

It was already starting to get dark when they finished at the cafe. 

“Get home safely. See you soon.” Johnny said. 

“You too. Take care.” Kun replied, while walking down the road. 

Johnny didn't know why, but he felt...weird. And before you say anything, no, he wasn't crushing on Kun. It was different, somehow. It wasn't lie, the other crushes he has had. It was...warm. In a nice way, not burning, but in a nice, comfortable way. 

Like drinking a cup of coffee in front of a fireplace. Had Kun had the same feeling? 

Was that how Kun made him feel? Did he even want to feel this way, if it was? Johnny didn't want to admit it, but the answer might, maybe, likely, probably, honestly be yes.


	12. December 12th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kun starts questioning stuff. And Renjun spills on some personal details.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first off, super sorry about the short chapter today. 
> 
> Also, I'm really sorry about the lacking quality of this whole story. I know it's not that great of a story, so thank you to everyone who sticks around, it warms my heart in these cold winter months.

The next day, after school, Kun met up with Renjun to walk home. Chenle had gotten off from school earlier, and had already gone home by himself (read as: with Jisung). 

“You haven't even told me how your date went yesterday. I'm quite disappointed you haven't told me any of the juicy details yet.” Renjun started complaining. 

“Well, you weren't exactly available. Where were YOU yesterday? You didn't even come home until 8:30. You could have texted me, you know.” Kun retaliated. He wasn't exactly hyped about sharing his love life with his younger brother (who probably had more luck than him in that department). 

“I was with some friends. I ate dinner at their house. Sorry I didn't text you, though, I told Lele and I assumed he'd tell you.” Renjun said. But Kun got caught on one detail in Renjun's answer. 

Friends? Renjun was never really the type of person to have many friends of his own. Besides their little group of firings, he mostly had acquaintances, people with whom he spoke, but not intimately. It wasn't because Renjun wasn't a nice person, or because he didn't like people. He just never really ‘needed’ friends of his own age. But if he had friends, who were his age, that was fine, great even. 

“What friends were you over at? Do I know them?” Kun asked, trying not to offend Renjun by implying that he didn't have any friends. 

“I don't think you know them. They're 2 guys from my class, Jeno and Jaemin. I've been hanging out with them quite a lot recently. They're really nice.” Renjun said. 

“Oh, that's great then. Just, please, next time you're over at their place, please let me know. By text, not by Chenle.” Kun laughed. 

“But, back to YOUR date. How was it.” Renjun said. Kun sighed. He had hoped for that topic to be buried under the news of Renjun having gotten new friends. But here he was. 

“Well, it went quite well. Johnny was a bit late, but he made it up to me.” Kun said. 

“He ‘made it up to you’? Did he kiss you or something?” Renjun said, with mixture of disbelief and something akin to fanboying. 

“What? No, no he didn't kiss me. No, we're just...friends, I guess.” Kun said. What was he and Johnny actually? They were friends right? Friends told each other to get home safely, and smiled sweetly at you, right?

“So...you wouldn't ever want to kiss him?” Renjun said, seeming to have noticed Kun's weird response to his question. 

“No. It's not like that. Not at all.” Kun adamantly said. 

He was...around 65% sure it wasn't like that. Maybe 60%.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to let you know, not all character interaction happens "on-screen", so some characters (especially NoRenMin) interact even if it's not shown explicitly in the story (as seen in this chapter). But don't worry, we will check back in with them very soon for some major...stuff. ;)


	13. December 13th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny thinks he might be catching feelings. And he's not that into the idea.

Johnny swore he was going crazy. Ever since their second date, even when he was in class, all he could think about were soft, brown eyes, cute dimples, and a sweet voice. At one point, his teacher had called his name repeatedly, and he hadn't reacted before the 4th time. 

Something was seriously wrong with him. And he had a feeling that Kun had something to do with it. 

When he sat down for lunch, he immediately put his face in his hands and let out a long sigh. 

“Having a tough day, Johnny?” Taeil asked, sounding kinda worried for Johnny's wellbeing. 

“Yeah.” 

“You wanna talk about it?” Jaehyun asked, putting his hand supportively on Johnny's shoulder. 

“I think I… I think I'm falling for someone.” Johnny admitted, still not lifting his head. 

“Does this someone's name start with K and end with un?” Jeno said, as he, Jaemin, Mark and Donghyuck joined them at the table. Johnny looked up at him questioningly. 

“It's not hard to guess. And Renjun kinda gave us the hint.” Jaemin said. Johnny's face hit his hands again with a groan. 

“What's wrong about falling in love with Kun? I thought you said he was nice?” Mark asked. 

“I'm on a mission to make him fall in love with me. Falling for him wasn't part of the idea.” 

“Johnny, you're not James Bond, or any other secret agent. No one is gonna die just because you fall in love with another human being.” Mark said. 

“But what if he doesn't like me?” Johnny asked, realizing how much he sounded like a love-sick teenager in that moment. 

“Seriously, did you not hear a word we said before? Renjun, Kun's actual brother, thinks Kun might also like you. And really, what the worst thing that can happen if you confess?” Jeno said. 

“Woah, who said anything about confessing? And the worst thing that could happen if I confess is that he rejects me, doesn't want to see me again, and then I'm down 50 dollars.” Johnny said. 

“Listen, it's 50 dollars. It's really not the end of the world. And honestly, even if you don't confess, how confident are you that you're really gonna get those 50 dollars? You haven't even kissed Kun yet, how do you expect to get him to have sex with you within 11 days? You'd probably have a better chance of winning the bet if you you actually confess to him.” Taeil said. He was getting kinda tired about Johnny’s tactic surrounding this whole thing. 

“And as a plus, if he says yes, you might be able to both get the 50 dollars, and get a boyfriend.” Jaehyun said. 

Johnny cursed his friends, but they did put up some pretty good arguments. 

Maybe he should just confess. 

Or he should probably take a day or two to just think it through, instead of rushing into something stupid. Confessing completely newfound feelings to someone who's involved in a bet seems like a pretty stupid idea. He wasn't even sure about these feelings. What if he was just imagining things? 

He also knew that if he were to see Kun right now, all of these weird emotions would just go all over the place. The wisest thing to do was to wait a while, just to find out what the heck was going on in his scrambled mind.


	14. December 14th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renjun, Jaemin and Jeno hang out. Johnny wants to talk to Kun.

Renjun was sitting in Jaemin’s house with Jaemin and Jeno. They were currently in the middle of playing video games. Or rather, Jeno was in the middle of winning a video game, Jaemin was in the middle of having a mental breakdown over Jeno “cheating” in the game, and Renjun had kinda just given up on trying to beat Jeno. 

“YES!!!” Jeno exclaimed as he raced across the finish line in his bright purple car. 

“I'm going to get some snacks.” Jeno said as he got up, and moved towards the kitchen, with which he was apparently very familiar. 

Jaemin had told him that the 2 of them had practically spend more time at each other's houses than at their own. Every since they were young, they had been practically inseparable. 

It made Renjun feel slightly weird about being there, as if he was barging in on something very private, even if it, in reality, wasn't more than a afternoon of playing games and eating unhealthy snacks. 

Jaemin turned towards him. 

“You wanna take a 1on1 battle before Jeno comes back? Then we might get a chance to win.” Jaemin said, smiling. 

Renjun had been a bit apprehensive about Jaemin at first, but he had definitely warmed up to him since. Maybe it had something to do with the innocent and sweet look that always graced Jaemin's face. It felt friendly, inviting. 

“Sure.” Renjun said, returning the smile. That was a mistake. Jaemin quickly took the lead. Renjun himself wasn't a bad gamer, but it was obvious that Jaemin and Jeno had spent a lot of time playing these games.

Jaemin ended up winning the game pretty quickly. Jeno could still be heard scrambling with the bowls in the kitchen. 

After a few more minutes, Jeno entered the room again, carrying 2 large bowl of chips. He put them down of the table. 

Jeno gave them his usual eye-smile. A smile, which could make any girl, boy, cat and dog go soft. Renjun never had a reason to be apprehensive about Jeno. Jeno approached him, showed interest in him first. It made Renjun trust him. Few people had ever taken that kind of interest in him, and it made him feel special, appreciated. Jeno had approached him with the intention of friendship, completely without any other reason, and Renjun was so happy he did. Now he had 2 good friends, who were his age, something he wasn't used to. But he was happy about it. Very happy.

Kun was lying on the couch in his living room, a book in his hand, when a new text made his phone whine. He reached over to check the new message to see a text from Johnny. 

Johnny: Hey 

Kun: Hi 

Johnny: I was wondering, when are you getting off from school tomorrow? I kinda need to talk to you. 

Kun: I get off at 2:30. Is something wrong?

Johnny: No, no, not at all. Everything is fine, don't worry. 

Kun: Okay. Should we meet in the cafeteria? 

Johnny: That's a good idea. I'll see you there. :)

Kun: ^_^


	15. December 15th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny confesses to Kun. It goes...relatively okay.

Johnny showed up at the school cafeteria at 2:35. He sat down at on of the tables in the middle of the large room. Most of the tables were empty, except for a few students studying at the different tables. 

A few minutes later, Kun stepped through the door, carrying a handful of books in his arms. Johnny could feel his hands getting clammy. Kun sat down next to him at the table.

“Hi.” Kun said, smiling, showing of his dimples as if he wanted to make life so much more difficult for Johnny. 

“Hey.” Johnny said. 

“You wanted to talk about something? Is something wrong, are you okay?” Kun asked. 

“I really needed to talk to you.” Johnny said, taking a deep breath before he continued.

“I've really enjoyed the time we've spent together. Even though it's only been a few hours in total, I feel like we have really clicked, and I want to spend more time with you.” Johnny said. Kun smiled at him again. 

“I've enjoyed spending time with you too. You're really nice to talk to. I'd really like it if we could spend more time together in the future.” Kun answered, actually sounding genuinely excited about the prospect of seeing Johnny more often. 

“And there's something more.” Johnny began. 

“What is it?” Kun asked. Johnny took a deep breath before looking directly into Kun's brown eyes. That proved to be a bad idea, since it only made Johnny more nervous about what he was about to say. 

He had approached Kun with the intention of seducing him, sleeping with him once, and then getting an easy 50 dollars out of it. But it had spread like wildfire, a wildfire that not even Johnny could control. It had been like quicksand. He was sinking so slowly that he hadn't even noticed until it was too late to do anything about it. 

They had only known each other for a very short while, but Johnny still felt like his feelings were sincere. Now he just had to beg that Kun felt the same way. 

“I think...I think I've started...getting feelings for you. I don't know how it happened, but it just kinda did. I think… I know I have fallen in love with you, Kun.” Johnny said, averting his eyes from Kun's, nervous for what kind of reaction he'd have. 

After a painfully long moment of silence, Johnny looked up. 

Kun looked like he was in shock, simply looking at Johnny with huge eyes, that in any other situation would have looked hilarious, but in this situation only made Johnny more worried. 

“I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I just…” Johnny began. 

“No, no, don't apologize. I'm just...I don't quite know how to respond.” Kun said softly. 

“If you don't feel the same, it's completely okay. I just wanted to get this off my chest.” Johnny said, disappointment clearly showing on his face. 

“It's not that. Ever since our first meeting, I've felt warm when I thought about you. And with our second date, it just became stronger. It's just...I don't really know how to describe it. I don't know how I feel.” Kun said, obviously confused by his own feelings. 

“We could take it slowly, small steps, if you'd liketo try?” Johnny asked. 

“I think I'd like that. I'd like that a lot.” Kun said, smiling at him gratefully, reaching over and gently taking Johnny's hand. 

And Johnny felt like his heart was ready to break through his ribcage, and pop though the flesh and skin of his body. But it didn't, because that would be too bloody, and would probably scare Kun away.


	16. December 16th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kun and Johnny tell their friends about their meeting the previous day.

The next day, Johnny and Kun ended up walking to lunch together, before spreading to join their respective friends. 

“I'm gonna introduce you to my friends soon. I think they'll love you more than they love me.” Johnny said, before they split up. 

When Kun looked over to his friends, he already dreaded going over there. 

8 pairs of eyes were looking directly at him, with 8 strangely sly smiles underneath them. 

“Sooooooo, what have we missed?” Ten said teasingly as Kun sat down. 

“Would you believe me if I said nothing?” Kun asked. 

“Nope. You and mr. tall-hot-piece-of-Johnny are dating now?” Ten asked. Kun could practically feel the blood rushing to his face. 

“Well...we're just...you know...together. And don't call him that.” Kun stammered. 

“Well, I see someone is getting possessive.” Ten said, continuing his sly smiles. 

“But seriously, when did that happen? I mean, we knew you knew each other, but when did you get together for real?” Taeyong asked. 

“Just yesterday. He confessed that he had...fallen for me, I guess. And I told him that I felt something for him too. And then we just agreed to...try it out.” Kun said. 

“Aww, that's so cute.” Renjun said. Kun wasn't excited about being called “cute” by his younger brother, but in this case, he didn't say anything about it. 

In the other end of the cafeteria, Johnny had also sat down by his friends. 

“Did you do it? Already?” Doyoung asked. Johnny shook his head.

“No, not yet. But I'm getting there, don't worry.” Johnny said. 

“Have you kissed yet?” Donghyuck asked. 

“No. Not yet at least.” 

“You two seemed rather cozy before though. Something has definitely changed, I have never seen you two together at school.” Mark said.

“Well, we've kinda gotten together.” Johnny confessed. And suddenly, everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at him. Taeil had even stopped eating mid-movement, and his hand and chopsticks were now hanging in midair between his bowl and his mouth. It would have looked hilarious, if Johnny didn't have the whole tables attention focused on him. 

“You what?” Doyoung asked, both surprised and kind of excited. 

“I confessed yesterday, Kun told me he felt the same way, and we got together.” Johnny said. This was followed by a slap on the back from Jaehyun. 

“Well done, Johnny. I knew you could do it. That wasn't so bad, was it?” The younger asked. 

“No, I guess not.” Johnny admitted. He was happy about having done it, even though he had been extremely nervous. 

Then suddenly, Johnny felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He fished it out to see a text message from Kun.

Kun: Hi. U doing anything tomorrow?

Johnny: Don't think so. You have any ideas?

Kun: You wanna come over and watch a movie or something?

Johnny: Yeah sure. Just send me your address. I'll be there at 2:30.

Kun: K. I'll see you then ^_^

Johnny: :) <3

Johnny put his phones away, not aware of the goofy grin on his face, or the eyes of everyone at the table resting on him. 

“Is loverboy calling for you?” Yuta asked. 

“It's none of your business.” Johnny said, sending Yuta a small smile to let him know that he didn't mean it so seriously.


	17. December 17th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny and Kun have a movie night, and maybe get a bit closer.

Johnny arrived at the address that Kun had sent him. In front of him was a relatively large, white house, in a nice-looking neighborhood. Not that Johnny's own neighborhood wasn't good, but you could almost see the money covering the green lawns on the street. 

Kun had told him that his parents worked a lot, and he therefore often had to take care of his brothers. But Johnny had just assumed they worked so much to get by, not that they pulled in big money. 

Johnny's own parents weren't poor, by any means, but he had a feeling that Kun's family had a good deal more money than his. 

For a moment, Johnny worried that Kun had sent him the wrong address, or that he had read it wrong. But after double-checking, he walked up to the front door, and knocked. 

About 10 seconds later, the door opened to reveal Kun standing smiling on the other side. 

“Hey, you're here.” He smiled. Then he suddenly pulled Johnny into a brief hug, startling Johnny for a moment, before he relaxed into it. 

“Yeah. You have a very nice house.” Johnny said, when he pulled away. 

“Thank you. Come on.” Kun said, as he took Johnny's hand and practically dragged Johnny further into the house. 

Johnny hadn't expected Kun to be so...physical...in a relationship. He hadn't known him for a long time, at all, but he just always seemed shy and quiet. But here he was, initiating physical contact and being far more forward, despite claiming to be “unsure of his feelings”. 

Johnny didn't complain, however. He...kinda liked this side of Kun. 

Johnny and Kun walked into what Johnny assumed to be the living room. There was a large tv on the wall. 

“Just sit down.” Kun said, pointing to the couch. “Do you want any snacks? Something to drink?” 

A few moments later, they were sitting on the couch, the intro of some movie rolling over the screen. It was some animated movie that had almost just come out. 

Johnny and Kun were sitting next to each other, the only thing touching being their intertwined hands. Johnny was beginning to realize that that seemed to be Kun's favorite kind of physical contact.

Kun was nervous. He didn't know how to behave. He and Johnny had known each other for less than 2 weeks, and they had been together for 2 days. He didn't know how to act. Should he keep his distance? Or should he try to get a bit closer? How was Johnny feeling? Did he have the same thoughts?

While Kun thought Johnny was sufficiently focused on the movie, he leaned over slightly and put his head gently on the taller’s shoulder. He felt Johnny tense up for a moment. 

‘Great job, Kun, you've ruined it.’ Kun thought to himself. But as he was about to move his head away again, Johnny leaned his own head against Kun's, practically trapping him there. Not that Kun minded, though. He was content with their current arrangement. Completely content. 

After the movie, it was already dark outside. Kun had made sure his brothers weren't home while Johnny was over (Chenle was hanging out with Jisung, and Renjun was also out), but they couldn't stay away from home forever, and Kun assumed they'd be coming back soon. He didn't want them to come home while Johnny was there, since the teasing would never stop in that case, not only from the two of them, but also from the rest of their group of friends. 

“Thanks for tonight. It was really nice.” Johnny said, as he put on his jacket at the front door. 

“I thought it was really nice too. Maybe we could do it again someday.” Kun said. 

Johnny opened the door, and right before he was about to leave, he pulled Kun into a hug. When they let go again, Johnny left, and Kun was left to wonder why on earth his heart acted like he had just run a marathon.


	18. December 18th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny thinks about the bet and the future. Renjun comes to a realization regarding himself, Jeno and Jaemin. And it's not a happy realization.

Johnny was already getting ready to give up on the bet. He could easily see that he wasn't going to win. And he didn't even know if he wanted to win anymore. 

He had started this whole thing just get 50 dollars, but then he got to know Kun as a person. And he...fell in love. And now, winning the bet just seemed like he had been taking advantage of the younger. And that's not something he wanted to do.

On December 25 Johnny would just give Doyoung his 50 dollars, and they would never speak of this whole thing again. Kun would never have to find out, and the two of them wouldn't ever have to discuss the circumstances of their first meeting, how Johnny barging into Kun in a busy hallway hadn't actually been a mistake. How getting Renjun to convince Kun to go on a date with him hadn't been a coincidence. How he had planned to get Kun emotionally involved in him, but not reciprocate, and just leave when this whole thing was done. 

All of that would be sealed away in a week, and Johnny and Kun could have a happy relationship. 

“Are you in love with Jeno?” Renjun asked carefully. Jaemin proceeded to drop his pencil onto the table with a small sound, although the sound sounded very loud in the quiet cafeteria. 

The 3 of them had decided to study together for an upcoming exam, but Jeno had gone to get them some more coffee. 

“No.” Jaemin said, but his facial expression gave a radically different answer. “Are you?” Jaemin asked. 

“No.” Renjun answered, kicking himself for his voice going about an octave higher than normal, and his answer being a bit too quick. 

Renjun wasn't sure how he felt about Jeno. Or Jaemin, for that matter. They had been so nice to him since he met them. They had graciously invited him into their friendship, and they practically always invited him to hang out with them. He was over at Jeno’s or Jaemin’s house almost every day. 

But for that exact reason, he also didn't want to ruin it for them. They had been so nice to him, and if he somehow ruined their friendship, or even their potential relationship, he wouldn't forgive himself. 

“So we're stuck in the same boat, huh?” Jaemin said. 

“Yeah, I guess so. “ Renjun answered, not denying anything, since Jaemin didn't seem to either. 

In that moment, the door to the cafeteria opened, and Jeno came staggering in, carrying 3 cups of coffee. As he put it down on the table, Jaemin suddenly stood up. 

“I need to go get some fresh air.” He said, before almost running out of the cafeteria. 

“What was that about?” Jeno asked, looking slightly worriedly after Jaemin. 

“I don't know.” Renjun answered, even though he clearly did. 

Being in a room with your best friend, on whom you have a crush, while your other good friend also confesses to have a crush on him. That can't be painless. Especially if you, as Renjun suspected Jaemin had, had carried that crush around for a while. 

“He's been acting kinda weird lately.” Jeno commented, before taking a last glance at the door, and then looking down on his notes. 

“You seem very worried about him.” Renjun said. 

“Of course I am. We've been best friends for years. I know him better than I know myself, but I just can't figure out why he's acting so weirdly lately.” Jeno said. 

“Are you in love with him?” Renjun asked. Jeno stopped writing mid-sentence. Jeno let out a sigh. 

“I don't know. Honestly, sometimes I feel like I might be, but then something else comes into the picture, and everything just becomes so confusing.” Jeno says, putting his head on the table. 

“Have you talked to him about it?” Renjun asked, already knowing the answer, based on his and Jaemin's earlier conversation.

“No, of course not. I can't just go up to him, and tell him that I think I might possibly be having some feelings for him. No way.” Jeno said. “And there's something else wrong too. Something that just complicates everything.” 

“What is it?” Renjun said, feeling like Jeno was definitely more open about his feelings than Jaemin was. 

“I've gotta go, it's getting late. Sorry.” Jeno said, getting up from the chair, packing his things and hurrying out the door. 

So to recap, both Jaemin and Renjun himself had feelings for Jeno. Renjun might have feelings for both Jeno and Jaemin. And Jeno definitely has feelings for Jaemin. 

And suddenly, Renjun had a heart aching realization. 

It seemed like everything would work itself out, if Renjun just hadn't been in the picture

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone. 
> 
> So I've been kinda down today, which might show on the quality of this chapter. As you probably know, today marks the 1 year anniversary for SHINee's Jonghyun passing away, and as a big Shawol, I've just been kinda emotional today.  
> I know this is an NCT story, so I shouldn't be talking about SHINee here, but I just kinda wanted to get it off my chest. Sorry.


	19. December 19th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kun has an internal conflict, and Johnny decides to introduce him to his friends.

To say that Kun was conflicted would be accurate. He had always been told by his parents and the people around him that he had a good head placed on his shoulders. He was practical, smart, and most of all responsible. 

He knew that starting a relationship after knowing a person for only a week, was very stupid, especially if you didn't know the person that well, which, let's face it, was the case with him and Johnny. 

But still, he couldn't ignore the palpitations of his heart when Johnny was close to him, or the butterflies that had been released in his chest, and now inhabited his stomach. 

Everything he knew to be true, collided with what his heart was telling him to do. 

Kun had been in love before, of course he had. But never like this. He had been in a relationship before, but it had never come with this amount of...what, exactly? What was this feeling? 

Kun was 100% sure he was in love with Johnny Seo. There was no point in denying that. But his mind kept telling him to take it easy, not rush into it like he was doing. A small candle burns longer than an explosion, after all. But Kun could already feel the fuse being lit, and he could see it leading to the explosives. And he and Johnny were both standing too close. 

When Kun's class ended, he packed up his stuff, and planned to go to lunch with his friends. But he got a surprise when he stepped outside the door, to see Johnny waiting for him, 

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Kun asked, not at all angry, just curious, as to why Johnny was here. 

“I had a class right over there” Johnny said, pointing to a door slightly down the hallway “and I thought I'd stop by, so we could walk to lunch together.” Johnny said. 

And they did just that. But instead of splitting up when they got to the cafeteria, Johnny pulled Kun towards his friends’ table. 

“I want to introduce you to my friends.” Johnny explained. 

When they got to the table, all eyes were already on them. 

“Hey guys.” Johnny said when they arrived. 

“Hey Johnny. Hey again, Kun.” Jeno greeted them. And suddenly Kun realized that Renjun had mentioned Jeno as one of his new friends. Kun almost kicked himself for apparently having kinda forgotten Jeno. 

“So this is the infamous Kun that we've been hearing so much about?” Jaehyun said. 

And so, Kun got introduced to Johnny's friends. 

There was of course Jeno, whom Kun had met before, and Jaemin, the other boy that Renjun had mentioned, Jeno's best friend. 

There was Mark, Johnny's younger brother, and his best friend, Donghyuck, who was the same age as Renjun. 

The there was Taeil, apparently the oldest of them. He seemed nice, although he didn't really talk that much. 

Doyoung, seemed very nice, although he seemed busy trying to annoy Johnny. He reminded Kun a bit of Ten. The good friend that kept trying to tease and annoy you, just because they knew you could take it. 

Then there was Yuta, who was Japanese, apparently. Kun couldn't help but feel like he had seen him before, or at least heard his name mentioned. 

And lastly there was Jaehyun. Jaehyun seemed very...welcoming. He kept asking Kun about practically everything. Kun's first impression of him was that he was very friendly. 

Kun spend the rest of lunch with Johnny's friends, although he got a text from Sicheng asking him why he wasn't with them, and another text from Ten, which just read “TRAITOR!!!!”.


	20. December 20th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny and Kun share their first kiss.

Kun and Johnny were sitting in the cafeteria, Kun doing his homework, and Johnny studying for a paper he had coming up. They didn't really talk much, just sat there, on their own computers, sometimes exchanging a few words with each other. 

“This is so boring. Can I just drop out of school now and start working full-time at Mcdonalds?” Johnny asked, smashing his head into the table. 

“Cheer up.” Kun said, obviously trying to comfort him. 

Johnny couldn't concentrate on his paper, and not just because his materials were boring. 

Yesterday, Mark had asked him if he and Kun had kissed yet, and Johnny had answered no. Because they hadn't. Why hadn't they, though? Johnny knew that neither of them were strangers to being in a relationship, so kissing shouldn't be that big of a deal, right? 

But why hadn't it happened yet? 

‘Maybe’ Johnny thought ‘you sometimes have to take matters into your own hands.’

“Do you want to get away from here? I don't want to read anymore.” Johnny asked. Kun looked down at his homework for a moment, before closing his computer. 

“Let's go. I'm so bored.” Kun said. Johnny automatically took Kun's hand, and dragged him out the door, and down several of the school’s corridors.

“Where are we going, though?” Kun asked. 

“I want to show you something. It's right around the corner.” Johnny said as they walked up a staircase. 

Johnny opened a door, and they walked into a small room. It looked like a classroom, but much smaller, and quite a bit more dusty, as if the cleaning personnel hadn't been up here in months.

“What is this? I've never been here.” Kun said. 

“It's an old classroom. It was used for smaller classes, back in the day. But after cuts on the budget, it's never really used anymore. It's quite sad, it's a nice room. And the window has a nice view.” Johnny said, pointing towards a small round window. 

The window looked over the schoolyard, and you could see everything that was happening down here. You could also see the surrounding houses. As Johnny had said, the view was really nice. 

“If it hasn't been used for a long time, how do you know about it?” Kun asked. 

“I found it last year, just by coincidence. It has become my refuge ever since. I come here when I have a lot on my mind.” 

“Do you have a lot on your mind right now?” Kun asked. 

Johnny suddenly noticed how close they were standing. They weren't touching, but they were close to doing so. 

“You could say so.” Johnny said. 

For a moment, it felt like the world was standing still. Then Johnny made a decision. 

Without saying anything, he put his hand gently under Kun's chin, tilting his head up, before placing his own lips over his. 

Kun was kinda confused for a short moment, before he relaxed into the kiss. Johnny's lips were soft and gentle against his own. There was no hurry or force in the kiss, just a warmth and a subtle curiosity as to how a kiss between the 2 of them would feel. 

They broke apart after a while. Both of them turned their heads away, in a mixture of shyness and embarrassment. Kun had no idea why they were acting like this. He had kissed people before. He had kissed many people before. And yet, he, and Johnny too, acted like 2 teenagers in the middle of their first romance, trying to figure out how it felt to be in love. 

Kun looked over at Johnny, who had an almost invisible, yet kinda noticeable red tone to his cheeks. Kun broke into a mix of a giggle and a laugh, before Johnny followed suit. 

“Should we go down again? It's getting kinda late.” Johnny asked, when they had recovered from their laughter. Kun nodded at him, taking his hand. 

Now he definitely knew that he wasn't a teenager in the middle of figuring out how it felt like to be in love. Because he was almost 100% sure this was how it felt. Warm, gentle, comforting. And that was the feelings that Johnny brought out in him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I finally finished my assignment today (I mentioned it in one of the earliest chapters), so my vacation has basically started now. I'm so happy and relieved that I'm finally done with it. The warning at the beginning of the story apparently wasn't anything to worry about, since I haven't missed any days yet (I'm kinda proud of that ^_^)
> 
> Also, this story has been kinda cute and sweet until now, but there are (slightly) darker skies in the distance, that will reach this story soon (in about 2 days). No spoilers though.


	21. December 21st

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The holiday vacation is about to start, and people are busy wishing each other a happy holiday.

The next day was the last day of school before the vacation. It wasn't so much a day of school, as a day where the students showed up at the school to wish each other a happy holiday and a happy new year. 

“I expect to hear from all of you at least 4 times before school starts again, understood?” Taeyong asked, looking at each of his friends. 

“Only 4? Last year you said 6, are you okay, Taeyong hyung?” Jungwoo asked jokingly, putting his hand on Taeyong’s forehead. 

“Well, last year, most of you didn't even contact me 3 times. My feelings were hurt, you know?” Taeyong said. 

“Oh, we're sorry, we’ll do better this year.” Ten said, putting his arm around Taeyong’s shoulder. 

“I gotta go say bye to Johnny. All of you have a very happy holiday. And just please give me a sign of life, just once, okay? I'll see you two at home later, okay?” Kun said, directing the last part at Chenle and Renjun. 

Kun tried finding his way to where Johnny was, even though he wasn't quite sure where that was. 

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to find Johnny standing behind him. 

“There you are. I couldn't find you.” Kun said, although hips could barely hear his own voice over the large amount of students around them. 

“Let's go over her. Then we can talk.” Johnny said, dragging both of them towards a corner, putting a bit of distance between themselves and the other students. 

“Have you said goodbye to your friends?” Johnny asked. 

“Yeah. Taeyong made us promise to contact him ‘at least 4 times before school starts again’.” Kun said, imitating Taeyong's words.

“He's kinda like the mother of your group right?” Johnny asked, sounding amused over Kun's mocking impersonation of Taeyong. Johnny hadn't yet met most of Kun's friends, but Kun had told him a bit about them. Kun intended to introduce them after the vacation, or maybe during the vacation, if the opportunity arose. 

“We are going to meet up during the holidays, right?” Johnny asked. 

“Of course. We can meet up several times too, if you'd like that.” Kun said. Johnny was sure he would like that a lot. 

“Are you gonna go home now?” Johnny asked. 

“Yeah, I thought so. Unless you have a better idea?” Kun asked, the tone of his voice challenging Johnny to figure something out. 

“You wanna go somewhere for coffee? Again?” Johnny asked. 

“Of course, that sounds nice.”

Renjun also found Jaemin and Jeno in the mass of people. 

“Hey.” Jaemin said. 

“Hi. I just wanted to wish you a happy holiday, and a happy new year, if we don't see each other before that.” Renjun said. 

“I hope you have a happy holiday too. Actually, do you want to come over tomorrow? Just to hang out and stuff?” Jeno asked, sending Renjun one of his sweet eye-smiles. 

“Yeah, I would love to come over. What time should I be there?” Renjun asked.

“How about 1?” Jeno said. 

“That sounds good. Are you coming too, Jaemin?” Renjun asked, although e knew it was a kinda stupid question. If Jeno was somewhere, there was a 75% chance Jaemin was there too. 

“Yes, I am.” 

“Okay. I'll see you 2 tomorrow then. Bye.” Renjun said. 

“Bye, see ya.”


	22. December 21nd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renjun figures out the truth. About everything.

Renjun arrived at Jeno's house the next day. When Jeno opened the door, Jaemin was already there. 

“Hey Renjun, come on in.” Jaemin said, peaking at Renjun over Jeno's shoulder. 

They began playing one of Jeno's many video games. Jeno seemed to be pretty proud of his collection of games (and he indeed did have a lot). It was kinda cute, at least in Renjun's mind. 

In the middle of the game, Renjun suddenly pressed pause. The two other boys looked at him questioningly. 

“I have to go to the bathroom.” Renjun said.

“Down the hall, second door on the left.” Jaemin informed him, almost as if he also lived in the house. 

Renjun followed the instructions. 

When he was done, he quietly left the bathroom, not wanting to disturb his friends, if they were in the middle of something. But being quiet also meant that they hadn't been made aware of his presence. And such a thing can have serious repercussions. 

When Renjun was standing in the corridor, looking into the living room, where Jeno and Jaemin were sitting with their backs towards him, the two of them suddenly started talking. 

“I'm really so happy we met Renjun, he's so sweet.” Jaemin said. Renjun, who at this point had realized that they weren't aware of his presence, decided to stand and listen. They were speaking nicely of him, and Renjun didn't want to embarrass them by revealing that he was eavesdropping on their conversation (and the fact that they were saying nice things about him made him want to stand and listen a little while longer).

“Yeah, me too. Even though the circumstances weren't really ideal, I'm also really happy that we became friends with him.” Jeno agreed. 

‘The circumstances weren't really ideal?’ Renjun thought, wondering what they meant by that. 

“Do you think Johnny had given up on the bet yet? I mean, there's only 2 days left, his never going to make it.” Jaemin asked. 

At this point, Renjun knew that it would be a good idea to reveal himself. This conversation clearly wasn't meant for his ears. But he wanted to know what was happening here. Apparently, Johnny, Kun's boyfriend, was involved in a bet. 

“Probably. He should have given up when he first started getting to know Kun. I don't even know him, but he doesn't seem like the kind of person, who would give themself to a person after only a week.” Jeno said. Renjun's eyes widened. He was getting the general idea of this bet. From what he understood, Johnny was supposed to sleep with his brother before Christmas. 

“I kinda wish we hadn't encouraged him to do it. I feel sorry that Renjun got pulled into this. We should just have said no when Johnny asked us. That part is kinda out fault.” Jaemin said, scratching the back of his neck.

Renjun gasped silently, keeping quiet to not alert them to his presence. Even if he wanted to leave, he couldn't. Not now. He was uncovering a plot, a plot where he was being used for someone to get to Kun. Did this mean that Jeno and Jaemin had no real interest in him, that they were only using him to help a friend?

Renjun could hear from the two that that wasn't the case. They clearly cared, otherwise they wouldn't feel bad about it. But why did Renjun have a feeling of betrayal in his stomach. 

And suddenly it all started falling into place. Johnny and Kun got in contact almost at the exact same time as Renjun got in contact with Jaemin and Jeno. Renjun was the one who convinced Kun to go on a date with Johnny, after having talked to Jeno about it. It was almost crazy that they didn't notice any sooner. 

“Well, after the 24th, we won't ever have to mention this thing again. We can't just act like nothing of this sort ever happened.” Jeno said “Do you think he's done soon? You don't think he's drowned in the toilet, do you?” He said jokingly. 

At that exact moment, Jaemin turned his head towards the direction where Renjun as standing. Their eyes met for a split second, before Jaemin's smile. 

“Renjun? How long have you been standing there?” Jaemin asked, alerting Jeno to Renjun's presence. 

Renjun wanted to answer, but it felt like his throat was completely dry. He felt betrayed, used...exploited.

Before anyone could say anything, Renjun rushed out of the door, grabbed his bike, which was standing outside, and took off with a speed he didn't know he could reach. 

When he arrived home, he was debating with himself whether or not to tell Kun about his discovery. His brother deserved to know. If Renjun felt betrayed, how would Kun feel, dating a guy, who had betted on whether or not he could get into Kun's pants before Christmas? 

“Junnie? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?” Kun asked, seeing his brother standing in the entryway. Renjun hadn't even noticed the tears that were now streaming down his cheeks, but sure enough, when he reached his hand up, his fingers came back wet with salty tears. 

“I need to tell you something. And you're not going to like it. Not at all. It's about Johnny.” Renjun started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I told you drama was coming. Only 2 days left until Christmas.


	23. December 23rd

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kun, Renjun and Johnny deal with the repercussions of yesterday's events.

Kun spend most of the following day in his bed, feeling sorry for himself. As far as he knew, Renjun was in his own room, doing the exact same thing, with Chenle running back and forth to try and cheer them up. Kun really appreciated Chenle's attempts, and in any other situation, his youngest brothers high-pitched laughter and equally high energy would have put a smile on his face. But not today. Not when he felt like this. 

How did he feel, to be exact? He felt disappointed, more than anything. The moment he thinks he's found a guy who's sweet, handsome, and polite, he finds out that he's been used for a stupid bet, completely without his knowledge. 

He felt used, humiliated. He felt like the most idiotic person in the entire world. Being the target of a bet, completely without his knowledge, was one thing. What was worse, was that he actually fell in love with Johnny. That was the worst part of it all. That he had, in some (many) ways, enjoyed it.

Kun looked over at his phone

Johnny: Kun?

Johnny: How are you feeling?

Johnny: Please answer me, Kun

Johnny: I know you know everything, but please let me explain

Johnny: Please Kun. I can see you're reading my messages

Kun put down his phone. He didn't want to answer, and honestly, he didn't really want to see Johnny again.

Renjun was sitting in his room, staring out of the window, while hugging a stuffed animal. In any other situation, the stuffed bear in his arms would be stored away in a box somewhere, or if someone saw it, it would “belong to Chenle”. 

But desperate times call for desperate measures. 

He knew Jeno and Jaemin had texted him, a lot. But at some point, he turned off his phone. He didn't want to deal with this. Not now. He just couldn't.

“Junnie? Please come out.” Chenle begged from outside the door, for the 57th time that day (yes, Renjun counted). 

“Not now, Chenle. Sorry.” He said, and a few seconds later, he heard footsteps going down the corridor. 

He honestly hated saying no to Chenle, but he just wasn't in the mood for anything today. The past 24 hours had been terrible. And Renjun had, at some point, convinced himself that Jeno and Jaemin, and Johnny too, would certainly be on Santa’s naughty list this year. Renjun was very well aware that Santa wasn't real, he wasn't 8 years old anymore, but for this purpose, he kinda wished he was. Just so those three could get what they, in Renjun's mind, deserved. 

Johnny was worried. He had sent Kun over 10 text messages over the course of the past 5 hours, and he hadn't replied to any of them. 

When Jeno called him this morning, to tell him what happened yesterday, Johnny hoped to any higher power, that Renjun had not told Kun about his findings. But of course he had. That kind of wish was futile.

What was Renjun supposed to do? Pretend to be oblivious while his older brother was, in his eyes, being taken advantage of? If Mark was secretly being taken advantage of, and Johnny knew about it, he would not keep quiet about it. He'd tell Mark, and then go beat up whoever tried to play games with his brother. 

Johnny just hoped that Kun's brothers weren't that prone to violence. And even if they were, they could possibly beat Johnny up more, than he was currently beating himself up. 

He should have told Kun. He knew that. He should have told him the moment they started dating. But he just couldn't. He was worried Kun would be upset, and wouldn't want anything to do with him. But this scenario was probably worse. Kun hadn't gotten to hear his side of the story. 

Johnny took his phone once more. 

Johnny: Kun, I know you're reading these texts. Please just answer me once.

Johnny hit send, and seconds later, he could see that Kun was reading his message. But he didn't reply. And honestly, Johnny couldn't really blame him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only 1 more day till Christmas. Yay ^_^


	24. December 24th

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny apologizes to Kun. Will it be Christmas in their hearts this year?

The next day, on Christmas Day, Johnny managed to get away from home, and from his family's Christmas planning. He had one more thing to do before he could celebrate Christmas this year. 

Johnny was lucky Kun had invited him over once, otherwise, he probably wouldn't have had Kun's address. And so, he was standing in front of the large house once again. 

He knew Kun most likely wasn't going to want to see him, let alone speak to him. But he needed to tell him the truth, the whole story. 

He knocked on the door, and waited for it to be opened. But it wasn't Kun who opened it. It was 2 other boys. 

“Yes?” The taller of them said, looking expectantly at Johnny. 

“I would like to speak to Kun.” Johnny said. The smaller of the boys looked at him suspiciously. 

“You're Johnny, right?” He asked. Johnny nodded. “Then the answer is no. He does not want to see you.” The boy said, before closing the door in Johnny's face. 

‘Well’ Johnny thought ‘they must be Kun's friends.’

Kun was laying in his room, still feeling sad. At some point during the day, Chenle had called for backup, and Yukhei, Jungwoo and Taeyong were now over to try and cheer him and Renjun up. 

“Kun, Johnny stopped by.” Jungwoo said, as he walked into the room. He and Yukhei had just been downstairs to get them some snacks, while Taeyong was checking on Renjun. 

“I don't want to see him.” Kun said, although it was kinda slurred by his head being buried in a pillow. Jungwoo patted his back comfortingly. 

“That's what we told him.” Jungwoo said. 

Suddenly, Kun heard a strange sound from the window. He sat up in the bed, as the noise sounded again. 

“What was that?” He asked. Jungwoo looked outside the window.

“Johnny is standing down there. I think he's throwing pebbles at your window.” Jungwoo said. That sounded a lot like something you'd see in a movie made for teenage girls, where the boy tries to get in contact with the girl by throwing small stones at her window. 

“Could you two go help Taeyong with Renjun? I'll sort this out.” Kun said. Jungwoo nodded and disappeared out the door. 

Kun got off the bed and went over to the window. And sure enough, there was Johnny, standing on the pavement in the cold winter weather, with what looked like small stones in his hand. Kun opened the window. 

“Kun? Please come down here.” Johnny yelled. For a moment, Kun was afraid he'd wake up the whole neighborhood. 

“I don't want to talk to you, Johnny. Go home.” Kun yelled back. 

“I'm not leaving until you listen to me. I need to tell you the truth.” Johnny said. 

“The truth? So you didn't make a bet about getting me to sleep with you before Christmas, and even made your friends get close to my brother to succeed?” Kun said. He really hoped that Johnny would just tell him that no, he didn't do that. That Renjun had misunderstood what Jeno and Jaemin had said, and that nothing like that had happened. 

“Yes.” Johnny said, sighing and looking down. “I did do that. But that was before I go to know you.” 

“So it was okay for you to do it before you got to know me? What was your plan? To get me to sleep with you without even knowing you? What kind of person did you think I was?” Kun yelled. He knew he was being a little harsh, but considering what Johnny had done, he felt like it might be justified. 

“It wasn't okay, I know that. But please just come down, and hear me out. I promise, if you listen to what I say, and you're still angry, I'll leave, and I won't talk to you again, unless you ask me to.” Johnny said. Kun sighed, closed his window, and put on some shoes. 

When he got outside, he walked over to where Johnny was standing. 

“I'll give you 2 minutes to explain yourself.” Kun said, trying his best to keep a neutral face. He had never been good at confrontations or being angry with others, and this was no different. He was angry with Johnny, yes, but he just didn't know if he could handle talking to him like this. 

“It's true that I made the bet, with Doyoung. It's true that I got Jeno and Jaemin to befriend Renjun to get information about you. And it's true that I just wanted to have sex with you once, and then get on with my life. But the truth is, you weren't that easy to woo, and I had to put effort in. I had to take you out for coffee, and we started talking, and honestly, I liked talking to you. And then after the second time, I felt like I was falling for you. And then it turned out that you felt the same way. And at that point, I had practically forgotten everything about the bet. I didn't care anymore. All I cared about was getting closer to you. I fell in love, and then the prize was no longer 50 dollars. The price was you. Please give me another chance, Kun. I promise to never do anything to hurt you again. I'll give you every single one of my Christmas presents, if you will just forgive me. That's my only Christmas wish tonight.” Johnny said, finishing his speech. At that moment, Kun suddenly realized that they were standing much closer than before. He didn't know how they had gotten there. 

But something had changed. Not only their physical distance, but the feeling that Kun had in his heart. He was still disappointed, still sad. But the anger had disappeared during Johnny's small speech. Kun, deep down, still felt a warmth towards Johnny. 

“Okay, I'll forgive you.” Kun said, his voice sounding much more fragile and shaky than he had intended. Johnny's face lit up in s mile, and he enveloped Kun in the tightest and warmest hug he had ever given. 

“Thank you. I promise, I won't disappoint you again.” Johnny promised. 

And then as if they were the main protagonists of the aforementioned teenage movie, Johnny laid his lips gently on Kun's, in the exact moment as white snowflakes fell from the sky, covering the ground in white.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!!!!
> 
> The final chapter is finally up. Of course there would be a happy ending, it is Christmas after all. I'm writing this as my family is preparing the Christmas dinner. 
> 
> Thank you to everyone who has read this story, your support has meant so much to me. I wish all of you the best, both for the rest of this year, and for the year that is to come. May nothing but the best come to you and your loved ones. 
> 
> Merry Christmas, once again, and a happy new year to all of you ^_^


End file.
